Cat Claw

The publisher Dečje Novine and editor Sibin Slavković, called for comic strips that would resemble American superheroes for their magazine YU Strip. Of the creators solicited, only Branislav Kerac and Svetozar Obradović responded. Their suggestions included Gea, a Red Sonja-type character, Cyborg, a Terminator-type character (even though that character did not appear until 1984), and Cat Claw, a female version of Spider-Man. Kerac pencilled several pages and they were shopped around the Belgrade inkers, but none accepted the position. Kerac ended up performing both duties. He was busy with his Kobra comic book, so one of the characters had to be dropped. Bane chose to retain Cat Claw, which allowed him to emulate the work of one of his idols, John Romita.

The first episode, "Bane Claws," written by Svetozar Obradovic, was very much in the Marvel Comics style. It even included a cameo appearance of Peter Parker (on a bench in the park). Carol Connor, an introverted university biology student, was scratched by a cat which had been used in an experiment. Later that same evening, when she attempted to shut down an experiment in Dr. Baker's lab she was exposed to "Sigma radiation." As a result, Carol found she had developed a cat's agility and claw-like fingernails. She was also superhumanly strong and could see in the dark almost as well as during the day.

At first, Carol just used her powers for her own amusement. However, when she heard her roommate Jenny Jones being attacked outside their apartment building, she (literally) jumped to her defense and drove the attackers off. Carol enjoyed the experience and decided to create a costumed identity. Partly to draw attention away from her face, and partly because Carol would never wear anything so daring in her own identity, the costume was very revealing. Carol "borrowed" some special fabric, woven from metal, to create her mask, gloves, and boots from the Gray's Institute. There was insufficient fabric to create a complete costume, so Carol used a black bikini Jenny had given her (but she had never dared to wear) and fishnet pantyhose. (The ordinary fabric of the bikini and hose got torn up and had to be replaced after every fight. Later, Carol adopted a black leotard and black leather jacket to replace the bikini.) Kerac stated in a 1991 interview: "I tried to imagine what the wet dream of every male pig would look like, and Cat Claw was the answer."

Cat Claw went on to battle ordinary criminals and her own Rogues Gallery: Xtremity (aka Renate Roseblood), Berthold Schwartenberger (aka Catminator and, later, Grgur the monster), Dr. Sigismund Morse (Grgur's creator), Dr. Bruce Baker (who also turns into a monster), Ninja Deathbringer, and the Helloweeners.

In the late 1980s, Malibu Comics's imprint Eternity Comics republished 9 issues of Cat Claw's adventures. Cat Claw was also translated and published in France, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Turkey and some other countries.

In 2006 Cat Claw was published in hardcover albums as "Cat Claw Ultimate Collection".

Atomic Betty

Betty is a little girl with a big secret. To her friends and family, she's the sweet and brainy girl next door, but when the galaxy beckons, she sheds her humdrum persona and becomes Atomic Betty, Galactic Guardian and Defender of the Cosmos!

But Betty is not alone in defending the galaxy. With her are her faithful crew members, Sparky, the hyper-enthusiastic, hyper-hungry and just plain hyper co-pilot of the Galactic Starcruiser, and Robot X-5, a mobile encyclopedia of the universe. There isn’t a planet X-5 doesn’t know or an alien species whose customs he can’t mimic. While Sparky and X-5 are often at odds and squabbling with one another, when push comes to shove, they’re just as protective of each other as they are of Betty. Isn’t that what good friends are for?

Enemy Number One on Betty’s list is the ultimate super-villain, the Supreme Overlord, Maximus I.Q. Maximus would love nothing better than to visit Atomic Betty’s home world and destroy her once and for all! But for some infuriating reason Atomic Betty has been able to keep her secret base, well, a secret, even from him. One day she’ll slip, and when she does, he’ll destroy Atomic Betty and everything she stands for... BWAHAHA!, he’ll exult when that day comes.

Always at Maximus’ side is his long-suffering assistant, Minimus P.U. (Portable-Underling). Minimus has a prominent “swivel-head,,” essentially one head with two distinct faces that move back and forth, allowing Minimus to be both a sycophant and a grumbler at the same time; giving new meaning to the phrase “two-faced.”

But back on Earth, nobody suspects a thing — and that's just the way Betty likes it. If her mom and dad knew she was out zooming through the cosmos without a license, she'd be grounded for sure!

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Power Puff girls

The Powerpuff Girls revolves around the adventures of Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three little girls who gained superpowers when they were accidentally created with Chemical X. The plot of a typical episode is some humorous variation of standard superhero and tokusatsu fare, with the girls using their powers to defend their town from villains and giant monsters. In addition, the girls also have to deal with normal issues young children face, such as bed wetting or dependence on a security blanket. Episodes often contain more or less hidden references to older (circa 1950s to 1980s) pop culture.

The show mainly takes place in the fictional city of Townsville, USA. Townsville is depicted as a major American city, with a cityscape consisting of several major skyscrapers. The physical location of Townsville has never been determined. Cities like Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, Paris, London, and Tokyo have been shown throughout the series.

The show has a highly stylized, minimalistic visual look, reminiscent of Hanna-Barbera's previous limited animation including The Huckleberry Hound Show, Yogi Bear, and The Flintstones. In his review of The Powerpuff Girls Movie, movie critic Bob Longino of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that "the intricate drawings emanate 1950s futuristic pizazz like a David Hockney scenescape", and that The Powerpuff Girls is "one of the few American creations that is both gleeful pop culture and exquisite high art".[1]

The original 79 episodes were hand-drawn and produced at Rough Draft Studios in South Korea[2], but for the 2009 special episode The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!! was animated with Adobe Flash at Cartoon Network Studios.[3] The show's animation director was Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack), who also directed many episodes himself.

James L. Venable composed the opening theme of the series and Scottish band Bis performed the ending theme song, as played during the credits. The opening theme is based around the Amen Break sample.

The show has come under criticism for its rather excessive violence (including images of characters gushing blood from their mouths when hit), and for what have been perceived as morally questionable actions on part of the main characters, such as sometimes using more brutal force than necessary

Characters :

Blossom

Blossom (voiced by Cathy Cavadini) is "the smart one" and self-proclaimed leader of the Powerpuff Girls. Her signature color is pink, and she has long orange hair with a red bow. She was named for having spoken freely and honestly to the Professor shortly after her creation. She is often seen as the most mature, level-headed and composed member of the group, although she can also be fussy, overbearing, vain, and overly analytical at times. She tends to "parent" Bubbles and Buttercup, and often tries to play peacemaker between the two if they fight (though she is very quick to argue with Buttercup). In the episode "Ice Sore," she showed the ability to blow ice, and at the end, blow fire. However, even though Blossom said her ice breath was "all used up", she has been seen using it frequently in later episodes.
[edit] Bubbles

Bubbles (voiced by Tara Strong in the series and by Kath Soucie in the What-a-Cartoon! episodes) is "the cute one". Her signature color is light blue, and she has short blond hair in two pigtails. She was named for her cute and bubbly personality. She tends to act like the baby of the group, despite being the same age. Her best friend is a stuffed octopus doll she calls "Octi". She exhibits the ability to both understand foreign languages (Spanish, Japanese) and communicate with various animals (squirrels, cats, monsters). She will always stand up for (and cuddle with) animals except cockroaches which she (along with her sisters) finds "icky". She displays and is defined by innocence, playfulness and gentle demeanor, having a tendency to be naïve, ditzy, submissive, timid and sensitive. She is also more loving to her father figure, Professor Utonium. That leads to her often being regarded, by friends and foes alike, as the group's weak link. She can become very independent and aggressive when pushed, however, and among the girls, she is most feared by Mojo Jojo after having single-handedly taken him down in a fit of rage in the episode "Bubblevicious". She also loves to color, draw, and sing.
[edit] Buttercup

Buttercup (voiced by Elizabeth Daily) is "the tough one". Her signature color is light green, and she has short black hair in a flip. She was named because "Buttercup" begins with the letter "B" like her sisters, much to her chagrin. She is a tomboy and has a very short temper. Sometimes her aggression gets the better of her, making her reckless and stubborn. She possesses a mean and somewhat vindictive streak not shared by her sisters. She has, however, shown a softer side in several episodes. For example, in the episode "Cover Up", she had a soft green blanket that she was obsessed with that she would hug that gave her the confidence to be a better fighter, and she is quite protective over her sisters. She hates baths and loves getting dirty. Interestingly, Buttercup is the only Powerpuff Girl without a unique power. However, for not being special, she is the toughest. In "Nuthin' Special", it is revealed that Buttercup is the only Powerpuff Girl (and Townsville citizen) who can curl her tongue.

Darna

Darna's first adventure (as Darna) was first serialized in the pages of Pilipino Komiks #77, where she was pitted against the sultry snake goddess Valentina. Here, Narda, a young girl, swallows the stone, which has the word Darna on it, and transforms into Darna by shouting out the latter name. Likewise, Darna turns back into Narda by shouting her name. The stone, from the planet Marte, stays in her body, and her secret is known to her grandmother, and her brother Ding, who becomes her sidekick. The superheroine quickly gained popularity among Filipino comic book readers

Starting in 1951, several Darna movies were made. Some made from 1973 onwards starred the future multi-awarded dramatic actress and politician Vilma Santos. In these 1970s films, Darna's origin was changed; no longer a little girl, Narda was now in her late teens. Also, she herself becomes Darna, unlike the original where she just "channels" her (not unlike Jason Blood and Etrigan). Only Ding knows her secret in this version. Also, the stone comes out of Narda's mouth every time she changes back; she has to swallow it every time she wants to transform (This became standard for following versions). Darna is not specified as coming from Marte, just as a "warrior of Light". This version of Darna became most people's idea of the character for about 3 decades. A catchphrase popularized by the movies and said by Narda runs, "Ding, ang bato!" ("Ding, [give me] the stone!")

Black Mask

This quasi-cyberpunk neo-future actioner is about a cybernetically enhanced assassin group called 701. Jet Li is Tsui, former captain of the squad, who escaped to discover human feeling. On the outside he befriends ditsy librarian Tracey (Karen Mok) and Inspector Shek (Lau Ching-Wan), both of whom marvel at his emotional detachment. Then the crooked and still-operational 701 shows up with a giant info-stealing scheme and Tsui dons a black mask to oppose them.
Yuen Woo-Ping’s action is fine, and the film is shot cooler-than-cool, with tons of blues and lots of style to spare. Tsui Hark produced this excellent HK flick that suffers only because it has Jet Li syndrome: a complete lack of personality or emotion. That’s what turns all of Jet’s films into the same sort of experience; Black Mask is no exception. That said, this film still has plenty more to recommend it, including the cool cinematography and good turns by Karen Mok, Lau Ching-Wan, and Francoise Yip as Jet’s pupil turned enemy. A true Hong Kong experience all the way, and the best Jet Li flick since My Father is a Hero.

The Heroic Trio

Someone is kidnapping all the male babies in the city and the police have no clues. It turns out that a Dark Master of the Underworld lives in the sewers and is taking them. He needs them because they were all born as potential Emperors, and he needs the future Emperor if he plans to take over China. The police eventually enlist the help of superheroes Wonder Woman (Anita Mui) and Thief Catcher (Maggie Cheung) to stop the evil fiend.
Against the two heroes is Invisible Girl (Michelle Yeoh), who's working for the Master and is assigned to watch over a young scientist (James Pax). The scientist is trying to create an invisible robe and Invisible Girl is supposed to kill him when he's finished. It turns out that the three women have a previous connection. Thief Catcher and Invisible Woman knew each other when Thief Catcher lived in the underworld but ran away ten years earlier. Wonder Woman and Invisible Girl knew each other as children but were separated when Invisible Girl left to live in the underworld. It turns out that Invisible Girl is not as bad as she seems. She's actually a good soul who's simply taken the wrong path. To redeem herself, she decides to help out the scientist and joins with her fellow superheroes to defeat the Dark Master.
The supernatural fight sequences choreographed by Ching Siu Tung (A Chinese Ghost Story) are dark, violent and bursting with creative energy. Of particular note is the train station scene, which features the most creative decapitation weapon ever to be wielded by a demon (played via grunts and growls by Anthony Wong). The production design is also worthy of note, as the city is not necessarily Hong Kong, but more of fictional Gotham City-type place. The score is catchy and boasts a theme song by Anita Mui. However, the largest reason this film works is because of the three female leads. Each is given a chance to shine both in the action scenes as well as the dramatic ones. It's clear why the three are considered three of Hong Kong's top female stars.
The artificial trappings tend to make the film feel set-bound and it's clear that there was a limited budget involved, but none of that takes away from the overall entertainment value of The Heroic Trio. There is also a sequel to the film titled The Executioners. (Magicvoice 2002)

Superhero Squad

The most powerful object in the universe, the INFINITY SWORD, has been shattered (oops!) in a battle between IRON MAN and DR. DOOM. But Doom doesn’t give up easily; he’ll leave no stone unturned until he recovers every last shard. “Not so fast, Dr. Doofus!” Iron Man snags the best heroes around to beat Doom at his own game: WOLVERINE, HULK, THOR, the SILVER SURFER and a hotshot flyer named THE FALCON. The fact that these big guns are also loose cannons that may not play well together is not the sort of thing that occurs to a gearhead… er…a shellhead like Iron Man. Nor does he see any problem in cramming a grouchy loner, a gamma-green tantrum machine, a bombastic thunder god, a naïve alien and a prank-pulling speedster in their flying HELICARRIER headquarters. But with friends like CAPTAIN AMERICA and MS. MARVEL, and with tons of other heroes helping out, Iron Man can lead the Super Hero Squad to victory!

Astro Boy

The film begins in Metro City, a small city that floats above Earth, which is now covered in discarded robot parts. Toby Tenma finishes a physics pop quiz ahead of all his classmates and is free to leave, so he rewires Orrin (the family servant robot) who takes Toby to the Ministry of Science.

Toby's father, Dr. Tenma, is at the ministry, meeting with President Stone and Dr. Elefun. They have captured two cores of energy, a "positive" (good) core and a "negative" (evil) core. Toby is placed in a room where he is supposed to stay until the end of the demonstration, but he escapes and runs off to the demonstration room.

President Stone orders the Red Core to be placed into a robot called "The Peacekeeper" to power it. The Peacekeeper begins to malfunction and tries to attack the scientists, vaporizing Toby before the adults are able to deactivate the robot.

Soon after, Dr. Tenma is seen holding blueprints of a robot replica of Toby, in hopes of recreating his son. He takes hair from Toby's hat to access all his memories and place them in the robot. Dr. Elefun provides the Blue Core to power the very advanced Toby robot. The robot Toby comes to life, to the excitement of Dr. Tenma. Tenma then takes Toby home, at first excited to spend time with his son, but he quickly realizes the new Toby is not the same as the old Toby.

Dr. Tenma calls Dr. Elefun, fearing that he may have made a mistake. Dr. Elefun makes a point that Toby cannot be exactly duplicated. Dr. Tenma grieves over the fact that whenever he sees Toby, he is reminded that Toby is really gone and will never come back.

While in his room, Toby worries about his father, since he has never been that angry with him before. While Toby gets into a quarrel with cleaning robots outside his window, he discovers he can understand them but falls out the window only to discover that he can fly.

President Stone discovers Toby's energy signature and his blue core, and orders his troops to capture it. When Toby returns home he overhears his father talking with Elefun about deactivating Toby. Dr. Tenma reveals that Toby is only just a copy of the original Toby and that he no longer wants him since his face only reminds him of his real son and the pain of losing him. Devastated, Toby flies off but not before Elefun assures him that he has a place somewhere in the world.

Toby is ambushed by military drones and flying craft controlled by Stone's military. A barrage of missiles temporarily disables Toby, causing him to fall to the Earth's surface. Toby wakes up on the Earth's surface, covered in broken robots, where he meets a robot dog named Trashcan. Trashcan leads Toby to a trap where he is wrapped up and captured by a group of kids, but released when he appears to be a human. Toby is then abducted by the "Robot Liberation Front", who name him "Astro". They then warn him of Hamegg, who enslaves robots. Cora and the children break in to free Astro.

Tenma promises to President Stone that he will deactivate Astro when they capture him and give Stone the blue core for the Peacekeeper. Cora takes Astro to their home, filled with tons of children and the Fagin-like ringmaster Hamegg. However, Hamegg isn't as evil as he seems. Hamegg eagerly welcomes Astro into their family. Later that night, Hamegg talks with Astro and how he used to work in Metro City with Dr. Tenma, but was thrown away due to his "intimidating brilliance".

The next day while out searching for parts in Brazil, Trashcan tried to tell everyone else that Astro is a robot, but fails. (Trashcan eventually writes on the ground "He's A Robot" but then Zane comments "Makes me wish I knew how to read.") Astro finds a 100 year old robot named Zog. Using the power of his blue core, Astro revives Zog. They take him back to their home and fix him up for the robot games. But Astro is slightly upset when he discovers that it is a fight to the death. Before the games start, Hamegg electrifies Astro and reveals to everyone that he is a robot. So, Hamegg puts him in the games. At Yankee Stadium, Astro easily clears all the robots but is put up against Zog, who refuses to fight Astro. Hamegg, forcibly tries to get Astro to fight, but Zog attacks him (being over 100 years old, the rules of robots not being allowed to harm humans doesn't apply to him, since it has been the rule for 50 years). Astro then stops Zog, leaving Hamegg to wonder what kind of robot he really is. Just then the military arrives and Zog tries to defend Astro, but Astro stops Zog and goes with the military. Astro believes he needs he must fulfill his destiny, whatever it is.

Stone mockingly offers the captive Astro a "drink" of machine oil.

Astro is taken back to the lab he was made in and Dr. Elefun tells him that he is wonderful and none of this is his fault, but Astro believes that it is hard to fit in and that perhaps this is his destiny. Dr. Tenma takes out the blue core and apologizes to Astro, who says he shouldn't be sorry and apologizes for not being a better Toby. Astro then deactivates and dies. Dr. Tenma gives Stone the core, but repents of the evil he is doing and takes the core back, putting it in Astro. Astro wakes up wondering why Dr. Tenma has done that, but he replies that even though Astro is not Toby, he is still his son.

Astro escapes so Stone uses the red core to reactivate the Peacekeeper. The Peacekeeper absorbs Stone and heads to destroy Astro, with Stone's mind controlling it. With the Peacekeeper on the rampage, absorbing every weapon and structure it comes across, Astro flies into the city to protect it from the rampaging behemoth. Meanwhile, Cora and the others hijack Hamegg's car to head to Metro City and help Astro. In the resulting showdown, the city's power source is destroyed but Astro manages to hold it up and causing it to land unharmed before continuing battle with the Peacekeeper. He's captured by the Peacekeeper but when it tries to absorb him, it doesn't work. Dr. Tenma tells Astro that if the Blue Core and Red Core come together, Astro and the Peacekeeper will die. Knowing that the Peacekeeper must be stopped, even if it means sacrificing himself, Astro flies into the Peacekeeper's Red Core, resulting in a massive explosion that completely destroys the Peacekeeper, leaving Stone unharmed but arrested, and Astro dying since the blue core was drained in the explosion. However, because Zog was revived with the blue core, he is able to return some of the energy back to Astro, reactivating him.

Astro finds his place as a hero and everyone rejoices. Cora reunites with her parents. But before any celebrating can happen a large alien attacks the city and Astro, now at peace with his robotic nature and his destiny as a hero, immediately launches into action after reassuring his concerned father, "I was made ready!" The movie ends with Astro flying to fight the alien.

Superhero anonymously

Superheroes Anonymous is a collective of Real Life Superheroes who aim to do good in the world and inspire others. Originally founded in 2007 by Ben Goldman and Chaim Lazaros as an annual conference for superheroes, Superheroes Anonymous has since become the legitimate face of the Real Life Superhero movement - bringing superheroes together in the real world to affect positive change.

The first meeting of Superheroes Anonymous was held in October 2007 in Times Square, New York where superheroes met for the first time and helped the homeless, cleaned up the streets and patrolled the area doing random acts of kindness. It was the first such meeting of its kind and attracted widespread media attention, most notably from The New York Times.

The second annual conference took place in New Orleans, LA in collaboration with The Black Ghost. For this event, the Superheroes Anonymous team drove 10 superheroes cross country in an RV, stopping in various destinations along the way to do good. Upon arriving in New Orleans, we rebuilt homes with Habitat for Humanity, cleaned up a school with All Congregations Together, helped the local homeless and marched against youth violence with Silence is Violence. We then gathered on the steps of City Hall as city officials declared it The Day of the Superheroes. The third annual conference is now being planned to take place in New Bedford, MA aka "The Secret City." The conference is being spearheaded by New Bedford-based superhero Civitron.

Superheroes Anonymous is also in the middle of planning several new programs, including a monthly meeting of Superheroes Anonymous that will bring established Real Life Superheroes together with aspiring superheroes in order to help bring out one's inner superhero. We will also be organizing large-scale patrols.

Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon officially translated as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) is the title of a Japanese media franchise created by Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a sentai (team) of magical girls,[1][2] and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical girl genre itself.[3]

The story of the various metaseries revolves around the reincarnated defenders of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system, and around the evil forces that they battle. The major characters—called Sailor Senshi (literally "Sailor Soldiers"; frequently called "Sailor Scouts" in many Western versions)—are teenage girls who can transform into heroines named for the moon and planets (Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, etc). The use of "Sailor" comes from a style of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, the sērā fuku (sailor outfit), after which the Senshi's uniforms are modeled. The elements of fantasy in the series are heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.

Before the Sailor Moon manga appeared Takeuchi had written Codename: Sailor V, which centered around just one Sailor Senshi. She devised the idea when she wanted to create a cute series about girls in outer space, and her editor asked her to put them in sailor fuku.[4] When Sailor V was proposed for adaptation into an anime, the concept was modified so that Sailor V herself became only one member of a team. The resulting manga series merged elements of the popular magical girl and sentai genres of which Takeuchi was a fan,[5] making Sailor Moon one of the first series ever to combine the two.

The manga resulted in spinoffs into other types of media, including a highly popular anime, as well as musical theatre productions, video games, and a live-action (tokusatsu) series. Although most concepts in the many versions overlap, often notable differences occur, and thus continuity between the different formats is limited.

Characters
See also: List of minor Sailor Moon characters

Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon (月野 うさぎ, Tsukino Usagi?)
The main character of the series, called Serena in the English anime and Bunny in the English manga. Usagi, a carefree schoolgirl with an enormous capacity for love, transforms into the heroine called Sailor Moon. At the beginning of the series she is portrayed as an immature crybaby who hates having to fight evil and wants nothing more than to be a normal girl.[6][7] As she progresses, however, she embraces the chance to use her power to protect those she cares about.[8]

Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask (地場 衛, Chiba Mamoru?)
A student somewhat older than Usagi, called Darien in the English adaptations of the series. As a young child he experienced a terrible car accident that robbed him of his parents and of his knowledge of who he is.[9] During the series he has some precognitive ability,[10][11] including dreams that inspire him to take on the guise of Tuxedo Mask and fight alongside the Sailor Senshi. After an initially confrontational relationship,[7] he and Usagi remember their past lives together and fall in love again.

Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury (水野 亜美, Mizuno Ami?)
A quiet bookworm in Usagi's class, called Amy in the English adaptations of the series. Highly intelligent, with a rumored IQ of 300,[12] she can transform into Sailor Mercury, acquiring power over all phases of water. Ami's shy exterior masks a passion for knowledge and for taking care of the people around her.[13] She hopes to become a doctor one day, like her mother, and tends to be the practical one in the group. Secretly, she is also a fan of pop culture and romance novels, and becomes embarrassed whenever this is pointed out.

Rei Hino/Sailor Mars (火野 レイ, Hino Rei?)
An elegant miko (shrine maiden), called Raye in the English versions. Because of her work as a Shinto priestess, Rei can sense and dispel evil even in civilian form.[14] When she transforms into Sailor Mars she can also manipulate fire. She is very serious and focused, but although easily annoyed by Usagi's flightiness, cares about her very much. Rei is portrayed as boy-crazy in the early anime,[14] but is uninterested in romance in both the manga and live-action series.[15] She attends a private Catholic school, separate from the other girls.

Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter (木野 まこと, Kino Makoto?)
A tomboy who transfers into Usagi's school, called Lita in the English versions. Very tall and strong for a Japanese schoolgirl,[16] she can transform into Sailor Jupiter, attacking with lightning and with some control over plants. Both Makoto's parents died in a plane crash years ago, so she lives alone and takes care of herself. She cultivates her physical strength as well as more domestic interests, including housekeeping, cooking, and gardening. She wants to marry young and to own a flower-and-cake shop.[17]

Minako Aino/Sailor Venus (愛野 美奈子, Aino Minako?)
A perky dreamer who acted on her own as Sailor V for some time.[18][19] Called Mina in the English versions, she has a companion cat called Artemis who works alongside Luna in guiding the Sailor Senshi. Minako transforms into Sailor Venus, Soldier of Love, and leads Sailor Moon's four inner guardians. She also dreams of becoming a famous singer and idol and attends auditions whenever she can.[20] At the start of the live-action series, she is already these things, but has poor health and separates herself from the other Senshi.[21]

Chibi-usa/Sailor Chibi Moon (ちびうさ?)
The future daughter of Usagi and Mamoru, Chibi-usa travels from the 30th century to seek help to save her parents, then later to train with Sailor Moon to become a soldier.[22] She learns to transform into Sailor Chibi Moon. At times she has an adversarial relationship with her mother in the 20th century,[23] as she considers herself more mature than Usagi, but as the series progresses they develop a deep bond. Chibi-usa wants to grow up to become a lady like her mother.[24] In the English adaptations, she is called Rini, and her alter ego is called Sailor Mini Moon.

Setsuna Meioh/Sailor Pluto (冥王 せつな, Meiō Setsuna?)
A mysterious woman, called Trista in the English anime. She appears first as Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time, who has the task of protecting the Space-Time Door from unauthorized travelers. It is only later that she appears on Earth, living as a college student. She has a distant personality and can be very stern, but can also be quite friendly and helps the younger Sailor Senshi when she can.[25] After so long at the gate of time she carries a deep sense of loneliness, although she is close friends with Chibiusa.

Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune (海王 みちる, Kaiō Michiru?)
A talented violinist with some precognition, called Michelle in the English anime. A year older than most of the other Sailor Senshi, she can transform into Sailor Neptune, channeling the power of the ocean. She worked alone for some time before finding her partner, Sailor Uranus, with whom she fell in love.[26] Michiru is elegant and personable, already well-known for her music as well as her painting, but has given up her own dreams for the life of a Senshi. She is fully devoted to this duty and willing to make any sacrifice for it.

Haruka Tenoh/Sailor Uranus (天王 はるか, Ten'ō Haruka?)
A good-natured, masculine-acting girl, called Amara in the English anime. Haruka, of an age with her partner, Michiru, transforms into Sailor Uranus, Soldier of the Sky. Before becoming a Sailor Senshi, she dreamt of being a racer, and is skilled at driving.[27] She tends to dress and, in the anime, speak like a man. She is so friendly and genial that nearly everyone she meets is attracted to her. When it comes to fighting the enemy, however, she distrusts outside help and prefers to work solely with Sailor Neptune and, later, Pluto and Saturn.

Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn (土萠 ほたる, Tomoe Hotaru?)
A sweet, lonely young girl whose name remains unchanged in English (though pronounced slightly differently). Daughter of a possessed mad scientist, a terrible lab accident in her youth significantly compromised her constitution. After overcoming the darkness that has surrounded her family, she is able to become the Soldier of Silence, Sailor Saturn.[22] She wields forces of destruction so powerful that she is rarely called upon to use them, and unlike the others, her Senshi and civilian personae seem somewhat disconnected. She is often pensive, and as a human has the inexplicable power to heal others.

Fei Ying

Silver Hawk is based on a series of stories about a masked heroine, Huang Ying (Wong Ngang), that was originally published in Shanghai during the late 1940s and early 1950s. A number of movies and TV shows on this subject were made in Hong Kong during the 60s and 70s and some famous actresses, including Connie Chan Po Chu, Angie Chiu Nga Chi (a.k.a. Gigi Chi(u)) and Petrina Fung Bo Bo, have portrayed the heroine. However, the story of Michelle Yeoh's Silver Hawk is newly written and set in a future time (around year 2008).

The movie starts with Silver Hawk riding on her motorcycle through what looks like China. She is chasing thugs who have stolen pandas and are getting away in a truck. She attaches her bike to the truck jumps and fights the men kicking them out of the truck and then continues to fight them. Then they give up. She heads back to Polaris City where she meets an old childhood friend then a flashback occurs. In this flashback it was the time at the martial arts training academy back when they were little.

Silver Hawk

Story

Bionic policeman Commander Stargazer recruited the SilverHawks, heroes who are "partly metal, partly real," to fight the evil Mon*Star, an escaped alien mob boss who transforms into an enormous armor-plated creature with the aid of Limbo’s Moonstar. Joining Mon*Star in his villainy is an intergalactic mob: the snakelike Yessman, the blade-armed Buzz-Saw, the "bull"-headed Mumbo-Jumbo, weather controller Windhammer, shapeshifter Mo-Lec-U-Lar, robotic card shark Pokerface, weapons-heavy Hardware, and "the musical madness of" Melodia (uses a "keytar" that fires musical notes)

Quicksilver (formerly Jonathan Quick) leads the SilverHawks, with his metal bird companion TallyHawk at his side. Twins Emily and Will Hart became Steelheart and Steelwill, the Silverhawks’ technician and strongman respectively. Country-singing Col. Bluegrass played a sonic guitar and piloted the team’s ship, the Miraj (pronounced "mirage" on the series, but given that spelling on the Kenner toy). Rounding out the group is a youngster “from the planet of the mimes,” named Copper Kidd (usually called "Kidd" for short), a mathematical genius who spoke in whistles and computerized tones. Their bionic bodies are covered by a full-body close-fitting silver (or copper for Copper Kidd) armor that only exposes the face and an arm, the armor is equipped with a retractile protective mask, recractile wings under-arm (except Blueglass) thruster on elbows, and laser-weapons over the body. At the end of every episode, Copper Kidd was quizzed (along with the home audience) on various space facts by Col. Bluegrass.

Launching from their satellite base, Hawk Haven, the SilverHawks flew into battle five days a week for one season. The fictitious Galaxy of Limbo in which the series takes place apparently has an overall atmosphere with bearthable air and acceptable living condition of temperature and pressure; characters speak in space and operate "open-air" vehicles, and Windhammer's powers work even when he is not on an actual planet. There is also gravity; characters not "flying" tend to fall downward relative to whatever vehicle, satellite, or other platform with which they lost footing. Apparently, because Silverhawks is a fantastical children's cartoon, it was not held to high standards of realism. Yet, it provided correct space facts at the end of each episode, apparently meant for the same audience.

The Silverhawks in the show's title sequence.
Original Silverhawks

* Comdr. Stargazer (voiced by Bob McFadden) - A tough and grizzled old cop with bionic capabilities. He captured Mon*Star several years ago, and had him imprisoned. Older than the other Silverhawks, he longs to return to Earth for either a vacation or for retirement. He chiefly serves as the Silverhawks "eyes and ears", keeping them apprised of their current situation. His first name is apparently Burt. Stargazer's weapon-bird is Sly-bird.

* Quicksilver (voiced by Peter Newman) - Lieutenant Jonathan Quick was the former head of the Interplanetary Force H, and is the field leader of the Silverhawks. He has a cyborg/bird companion called Tally Hawk. Known for his quick reflexes (and even quicker thinking), Quicksilver is an accomplished tactician and athlete. His armor have the lightest silver-shade.

* Bluegrass (voiced by Larry Kenney) - He is second-in-command (as a Colonel) of the Silverhawks, and the chief pilot of the group, as well as a cowboy at heart. He is the only Silverhawk who cannot fly (other than Comdr. Stargazer), but he is the one that flies the team transport vehicle, the Miraj. He likes to use his weapon/instrument (portrayed in the toyline as his weapon-bird with the name Sideman)and his lazo, has an interface with the Maraj's advanced dynamic piloting system, which he has affectionately dubbed "Hot Licks".His armor has a blue-silver shade

* Steelheart & Steelwill (voiced by Maggie Wheeler and Bob McFadden) - Sergeants Emily Hart and Will Hart are twin siblings. They are the "gearheads" of the team. They share an empathic bond in that when one sibling feels something, the other feels it as well. They are the only Silverhawks who have had real stainless steel hearts implanted during their transformation. Their weapon-birds are Rayzor (for Will) and Stronghold (for Emily). Their armors have the same dark silver-shade

* The Copper Kid is the youngest member of the Silverhawks, and the only one not a Terran (Earthling). A mathematical genius from the Planet of the Mimes, he "speaks" in mathematically calculated tones and whistles. His skin is azurine except the face that is white(similar to a mime). His armor is copper-colored but the wings are similar more silver-like. At the end of each episode, he was quizzed in several astronomy lessons by Bluegrass as training to become the reserve Miraj pilot (sure enough, he was called in to fill Bluegrass's shoes, albeit infrequently). A natural acrobat, the Copper Kid has two razor-edged discs (one mounted on each hip) which he throws like Frisbees. His weapon-bird is Mayday.

New Silverhawks

* Hotwing (Adolph Caesar) - A gold Silverhawk of African American heritage who was added in mid-season. He is a magician, and skilled illusionist. He receives his powers from a mystical energy force that 'chose' him to bear the powers to fight against injustice. He has to recharge these powers every 14 years, otherwise he will die. One notable time was when Zeek the Beak tricked the mystic force into giving him these powers, which would have resulted in Hotwing's death. Hotwing has a weapon-bird named Gyro.

* Flashback - A green time-traveling Silverhawk from the far future. When he meets the 'much older' Stargazer, who tells him of the fateful day the Silverhawks died, Flashback travels back in time to save them from an exploding sun. He also traveled back in time to stop Hardware from destroying the Silverhawks (when the mad inventor sabotaged the Miraj during the S-Hawks hyperspace-sleep to Hawk-Haven from Earth, which would have caused the autopilot to fly them straight into the sun). Flashback's weapon-bird is Backlash.

* Moonstryker - A turquoise Silverhawk. He can propel himself through space by a powerful cyclone generated from propellers that emerge from his waist. He is cocky but an expert marksman, as demonstrated when he shot a pen out of Stargazer's hand when they first met in the episode "Battle Cruiser". His fighting hawk is Tailspin.

* Condor - An old ally of Commander Stargazer, whom Condor calls "Gaze". Condor is a lone operative, believed to be either a bounty hunter or federal marshal. Instead of wings, he has cybernetic bodyparts similar to Stargazer's, and also a jetpack. Condor always talks like Humphrey Bogart.

NOTE: It must be noted that only TallyHawk appeared in almost all of the episodes in the series. All the other "weapon-birds" only appeared in a handful of episodes.
[edit] Other supporting characters

* Seymour (voiced by Peter Newman) - The television show's comic relief, is a space cabbie who frequently says "Y'know what I mean?". He might be inspired by Space Cabbie, a 1950s science fiction character.

* Zeek the Beak, - Seymour's pal. He is a green bird-like alien who often accompanies Seymour on cab rides. His catch phrases are "You wanna buy a fish?" and the interjection "Zeek!"

* Harry -He is a robot that works as a barman in Fence. He appears in many chapters usually serving Limbo drinks.

* Professor Power - He works in the Artificial Sun. He controls it. He is friendly with the Silverhawks and helps them many times, like in the amber amplifier episode. [2]

* Sanders - He is governor in Bedlama, a planet similar to the earth.

* Monotone - It is Automata's computer. It rules the whole planet. [3]

* Grod the informer - He appears in episode 32 when he informs the mob of a rock that is supposed to be worth a fortune, the Saviour Stone. [4]

* Lord Cash - He is in charge of Dolar planet, where there is plenty of Limbo money. He is friendly to Silverhawks.[5]

* Gotbucks -Dolar's new security chief.

Psylocke

Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock was born and raised in England. Born in the small town of Maldon, Essex, Betsy and her brothers had a very privileged life. She is the twin sister of Brian Braddock, better known as the superhero Captain Britain and first appeared in his eponymous series.[18] After working as a commercial pilot for some time, she dyes her hair purple, joins the Psi-Division of S.T.R.I.K.E.[19] (the British equivalent of the U.S.-based espionage outfit S.H.I.E.L.D.), and goes undercover as a fashion model. One of her assignments was to infiltrate the Hellfire Club, but Tessa forces her to abandon the mission.[20] A British crime lord, Vixen, hires Slaymaster to destroy the psi-division and he manages to kill all but Betsy, her lover Tom Lennox, and their friend Alison Double. Captain Britain then defeats Slaymaster.[21]

When reality warped due to James Jaspers' powers, Tom sacrifices himself to give the Braddocks time to escape from a group of superhero hunters.[22] Following the repair of the reality warp, an evil version of Captain Britain from another universe named Kaptain Briton switches places with Brian. The double hands him over to the Technet (who were after the Kaptain) and tries to rape Betsy. In self-defense, she attacks him telepathically, killing him.[23]

A few days later, an old friend from her S.T.R.I.K.E. days informs her about a new intelligence agency called R.C.X. They wanted to deal with the Warpies, mutated children born all over Britain because of the reality warp, which led to an argument between Betsy and Brian.[24] While Brian was away adventuring around the world, Betsy assumes the late Kaptain Briton uniform and received training from Captain UK, another alternate Captain Britain, to become the new Captain. Vixen lures Betsy into a trap, where Slaymaster beats her almost to death, gouging out her eyes. Summoned by his sister's telepathic distress call, Captain Britain crushes Slaymaster's head under a rock.[25] Betsy recovered from her injuries, refusing an offer to have cybernetic implants that would partially restore her vision. She learns to use her growing telepathic abilities to compensate for her blindness. The ordeal with Vixen and Slaymaster leaves Betsy feeling distant from her home, and she leaves for holiday in Switzerland.

X-Men

She is later kidnapped by the other-dimensional television producer Mojo and his henchwoman, the six-armed, cyborg sorceress Spiral, and implanted with bionic eyes. Giving her the name "Psylocke", Mojo made her the star of the Wildways TV program. The New Mutants, the teenage sister team of the X-Men, get involved with rescuing Psylocke from Mojo. Most of the team are entranced by Mojo's other soldiers. Douglas Ramsey and Warlock, two of the New Mutants, escape. In an attempt to stop Mojo, the two mutants end up venturing into Betsy's mind. They risk their lives to save Psylocke's mind from Spiral's attack. This causes a deep friendship between the two and awkward feelings on Doug's part. Safe and sound, the New Mutants and Betsy head back to the X-Men mansion in Westchester County, New York. She decides to stay with the X-Men and learn how to better control her powers.[27]

Psylocke assists the X-Men in another battle with Mojo when much of the team is turned into children and mind-controlled into battling the New Mutants. The X-Men were reluctant to let Psylocke join them officially as her capacity as a teammate was unknown.[28] However, she has a chance to prove herself after the event known as the Mutant Massacre. Sabretooth, a member of the Marauders, invades the mansion while the X-Men and New Mutants are away. Psylocke holds her own against the deadly Sabretooth, keeping one step ahead of him until Storm and Wolverine arrived. Psylocke takes advantage of Sabretooth's distraction to read his mind and learn about the Marauders and their mysterious leader, Mister Sinister. The X-Men are impressed by Psylocke and invite her to join the X-Men.[29]

She is among the X-Men who fought the Adversary in Dallas in the event known as The Fall of the Mutants,. Along with the other X-Men present, she is killed, resurrected, and subsequently transported to the Australian Outback by Roma.[30] After a fight with the Reavers, Psylocke dons body armor to protect herself in physical confrontations and the X-Men establish a base in the Outback.When Storm is thought killed in a fight with the entity called Nanny, Psylocke briefly takes over as the leader of the few X-Men still remaining in Australia.

While in the Savage Land, Psylocke experiences a precognitive vision that warned her of the potential fate of the four remaining X-Men (herself, Havok, Dazzler, and Colossus); should they return to their base in the Australian Outback, the Reavers would kill them, and attempt unsuccessfully to transform Psylocke into a cyborg. However, shortly thereafter, the four heroes are teleported back to Australia by Gateway. The light from his portal alerted the Reavers to their return. As the Reavers closed in, Psylocke activated the Siege Perilous portal, given to the X-Men by Roma as a last resort. Beings who entered the portal were cosmically judged and reborn into another life, given a "clean slate". Psylocke saw it as the only way to save her teammates lives and her own. Dazzler and Colossus entered willingly, but Havok hesitated, feeling as though he was abandoning his responsibilities. Psylocke, left with no alternative, telepathically "convinced" him that his actions were justified. Psylocke entered the portal at the last moment, as the Reavers arrived to kill her and her teammates

Power Girl

Journey from Krypton-Two

Kara's father discovers that Krypton is about to explode, and places her in a spacecraft directed towards the Earth. Although this occurs at the same time that Kal-L's ship is launched, Kara's ship travels more slowly, and she arrives on Earth decades after her cousin has landed. Kara’s Symbioship is designed to keep her in stasis during the journey and provide her with life experiences and education in the form of virtual reality. The Symbioship allows her to interact with virtual copies of her parents and fellow Kryptonians within her home city of Kandor. By the time she arrives on Earth, Kara is in her early 20's (as referenced in JSA Classified, her age at arrival has been retconned to about eighteen).

In Showcase #97, Kara is reclaimed by the sentient Symbioship and reimmersed into Kandorian society for a time. Several years of virtual time elapse, in which Kara is married and has a child. She is freed with the assistance of newspaper reporter Andrew Vinson, at which point she disables the ship.

Debut of Power Girl
Power Girl's first appearance in All Star Comics #58, layout by Ric Estrada, inks by Wally Wood.

Power Girl's existence is not revealed to the general public until much later; her cousin Clark and his wife Lois Lane provide her a family environment to assist her transition towards real life relationships. In her first recorded adventure, Kara assists Justice Society members Flash and Wildcat with containing an artificially induced volcanic eruption in China. She then joins Robin and Star-Spangled Kid to form a Super Squad to assist the Justice Society in defeating Brainwave and Per Degaton. Later, she becomes a full member of the Society when Superman retires from active membership.

Having been raised by the Symbioship with artificial Kryptonian life experiences, Power Girl finds it difficult to adapt to life on Earth. However, with the help of reporter Andrew Vinson, she adopts the secret identity of computer programmer Karen Starr (she obtains her knowledge in this field from exposure to Wonder Woman's Purple Ray on Paradise Island). On Pre Crisis Earth-Two, Power Girl's closest friend is Helena Wayne (the Huntress), the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman.

Atlantean

The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths erased the existence of the Earth-Two Superman, and Power Girl's continuity was thus substantially disrupted.[1] Initially she believed herself to be Superman's cousin, as she had been before the reboot. However, her background was retconned; she was told that she was the descendant of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion, and was frozen in suspended animation for millennia until the present day.[2]

After the Justice Society disbands, Power Girl would join the Justice League. Later, while a member of Justice League Europe, she suffers a near fatal injury while battling a mystical being. Superman must assist in her medical treatment, using his heat-vision to perform surgery on her otherwise-invulnerable tissues. Although she recovers, Power Girl is significantly weaker, as she lost her vision powers and could not fly for a time.

During the 1994 event, Zero Hour, Power Girl experiences a mystical pregnancy and gives birth to a son, Equinox, who ages rapidly. He disappears, and has never been mentioned again.

Power Girl appeared in later issues of the Sovereign Seven, Chris Claremont's creator-owned comic book for DC. However, the final issue revealed that the entire series had been a story appearing in a comic book, and events in the book have had no bearing upon DC continuity.

Power Girl was one of Oracle’s first agents. Their short-lived partnership ended after a disastrous mission which resulted in a large loss of life. Power Girl believes that Oracle's poor leadership was responsible for the tragedy. Although she has worked with her again on a few occasions when needed, the relationship between the two is tense. In Birds of Prey #35, Power Girl admitted that she is primarily to blame for the tension, but is unable to overcome the memories of the deaths.

Power Girl is a key member of the Justice Society, which she joined when it was reformed in the late 1990s. During an adventure with the JSA, she meets Arion who reveals her Atlantean heritage to be a lie he concocted at the behest of Power Girl's "mother

Liberty Belle

The first Liberty Belle is Libby Lawrence-Chambers. Her powers of enhanced speed, strength, and stamina are linked to the ringing of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Early in her mystery-woman career she has an assistant in that city who would, when signaled, ring the bell for her. In her later years, after decades of super-strength and retarded aging, many begin to theorize about the nature of her powers - some believed the sonic vibrations of the bell triggers a meta-human gene, some believe that it is mystical, that Libby is connected to the power of the Spirit of America, like the hero Uncle Sam. Most of Liberty Belle's heroic exploits take place during the Second World War, and she is one of the founding members (and later chairwoman) of the All-Star Squadron. In her public identity, she is the famous radio columnist Libby Lawrence, and is therefore well-known both in and out of costume. During the war she marries speedster Johnny Quick. After the War they have a daughter, Jesse, who shared both their powers and took the codename Jesse Quick. Libby Lawrence is a descendant of Bess Lynn, alias Miss Liberty.

The Huntress

he Bronze Age Huntress was Helena Wayne, the daughter of the Batman and Catwoman of Earth-Two, an alternate universe established in the early 1960s as the world where the Golden Age stories took place. Earth-Two was also the home of the Golden Age versions of various DC characters.
Helena Wayne as the Huntress.

Created by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton and Bob Layton, her first appearance was in All Star Comics #69 (December 1977) and DC Super-Stars #17, which came out the same month and revealed her origin. The bulk of her solo stories appeared as backup features in issues of Wonder Woman which were published in the early 1980s.

Helena was trained by her parents to become a superb athlete. After finishing school, she joined the law firm of Cranston and Grayson, one of whose partners was Dick Grayson, alias Robin.

Helena began her super-hero career when a criminal blackmailed her mother into resuming action once again as Catwoman -- an act which eventually led to her death. Helena, deciding to bring the criminal responsible to justice, created a costume for herself, fashioned some weapons from her parents' equipment (including her eventual trademark, a crossbow), and set out to bring in the criminal. After accomplishing this, Helena decided to continue to fight crime, under the code name, the "Huntress."

In All Star Comics #72, Helena formally joined the Justice Society of America where she struck up a friendship with fellow new superheroine Power Girl. As a JSA member, she participated in several of the annual JLA/JSA meetings, most of which took place on Earth-One. Helena was also briefly associated with the superhero group Infinity, Inc..

During the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, Helena was killed while attempting to save the lives of several children. After Crisis ended, Helena Wayne's existence, like that of her parents and Earth-Two's Dick Grayson, was retroactively erased from the remaining Earth and the world no longer remembered her.

Omega Men

Vega is a "nearby star," being only 25.3 light years from Earth. It is notable for the fact that Earth's astronomers have discovered the existence of planetoid masses around this star. (Earth's closest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri is 4.39 light-years away and is the former home of the planet Rann. Polaris, now home to Rann and Thanagar, is 431 light years away.) In the DC Universe, Vega does indeed teem with life, whiche began eons ago.

The First Vegans

The Guardians of the Universe created Vega's first sentient inhabitants, the Psions. These former lizards were left on the Guardians' homeword of Malthus after they departed for Oa. As the Psions evolved, they sought constantly to emulate their creators in scientific achievement. (Ashamed of their savage origins, a Psion's tail is removed at birth.) When finally the Psions found their creators on Oa, the Guardians were appalled by the Psions' experiments. The Guardians mandated that the Psions should be banished to the Vegan sector of space to attempt to achieve their own greatness. For as long as the Guardians remained in power (until the first great Crisis), the Psions would be limited to only this small corner of the universe. It was there, in the Vegan star system, that their experiments would define the evolution of life. (OM 30)

Though 25 planets circled Vega, only two contained sentient life. These worlds were polar opposites: Okaara, the utopian, technologically advanced society; and Branx Emana home to primal savages. It was X'Hal, the gracious Okaaran who first greeted the Branx warriors. She was their host but soon became their prisoner. (Legends that X'Hal's was a warrior are false, the product of generations of storytelling.) The Psions were curious to find out which trait would be dominant if they bred an Okaaran with a Branx. They met with continual failure until finally discovering an inhibiting force within the Branx. Inside each warrior, the Psions discovered an "angel," a spirit of reincarnation which rose out of the dead and returned to animate the newly-born. The Psions successfully cleaved one of these angels from its Branx host, sending the being screaming into the void. This creature would later be known as the diplomat and Omegan, Nimbus. Once freed of its symbiote, the Branx was successfully mated with X'Hal. It is unknown whether these angels are still a part of the Branx race.

X'Hal gave birth to twins, one humanoid like herself, the other a black skinned monster. Shortly thereafter, X'Hal and her "mate" killed each other in a prisoners' rage. The Psions panicked; the twins needed a mother for their experiment to continue. They bombarded X'Hal with regenerative energies in an attempt to revive her. Return she did, with vigor. The energies gave her near omnipotent powers. She annihilated her captors, their lab, and the moon surrounding it, and returned to Okaara with her sons. There she was hailed as a goddess and her human son, Lambien, assimilated easily into peaceful Okaaran society. (OM 7)


The Citadel

Lambien's brother, however, having inherited the Branx's violent disposition, was a source of constant strife. He introduced the arts of war to Okaaran society, spawning those who would one day become the revered Warlords of Okaara. Their entire society grew more warlike and in time they developed nuclear weapons which destroyed the planet's surface. Over one million years before life began on other Vegan planets, this former utopia became a dead world. Some Okaarans went underground, others migrated to other Vegan worlds. This migration, coupled with the Psions' continued experimentation, resulted in the evolution of a multitude of Vegan races. (ToNTT 4)

X'Hal's evil son was banished from Okaara. He returned to the Psions' former laboratory world and built a fortress by reassembling the fragments of its moon into a ringed citadel. This "First Citadeller" would in time clone himself into an imperfect but powerful army. Many years later, he began to anticipate his mortality. To attain godlike immortality like his brother, he would eventually implant his consciousness into the very heart of the Citadel's computer core: the Complex-Complex. (OM 7)

The ruling family of Tamaran was one of the Citadel's early targets. There, King Korithus led his people in a hopeless battle and perished along with his sons, Korthus and Scrithus. When their mother, Talathus, was taken into slavery, only their son Mythus (later Myand'r) was left to rule Tamaran. In departing, Talathus urged Mythus to make whatever sacrifices necessary to save Tamaran from total destruction. (NTT 15)

X'Hal was enraged that the Okaarans had exiled her son, and destroyed three of Vega's 25 planets. This shocking display prompted a mobilization of Okaaran forces. Only after the sacrifices of hundreds of warriors was X'Hal finally contained. For their own safety, her worshippers now also became her jailers. Before her incarceration, X'Hal imparted Lambien with some of her powers. (NTT 25)

The Rebellion & Great Wars

At the "Siege of Alaran," Citadel forces are responsible for the death of Tigorr's wife, Ghanna. (GL 143)

For the right girl, the world of Raggashoon can bring money and power. Young Harpis and Demonia of Aello seek just that. Though Demonia is concerned only with power, Harpis fast becomes a favorite among visiting soldiers. Among others, she beds Tigorr, a commander in the Great Wars. It is Delengis (one of Tigorr's men), however, who ultimately captures her heart. Their romance is cut brutally short when the evil Komand'r comes to call. Komand'r singles out Harpis and others for genetic alteration. Mama's girls will be custom-designed for Komand'r's lieutenants. Demonia is also selected but unlike her sister is elated at the results. For three years, Harpis travels alongside her new mate. Ultimately, fate brings them to Tamaran and a clash with Tigorr's band of rebels. When she spots her former love, Delengis, leaps into battle alongside the rebels. When they are defeated, she and Demonia are jailed as well. (OM 11)

One planet would remain almost untouched by the Citadel's scourge. On Euphorix, the young inventor Alonzo Dulak has devised a force field technology which he brings before X'Hal on Okaara. The goddess is impressed and imbues his invention with some of her own power, in hopes that one of Vega's worlds would survive the coming wars. (OM 15)


The Omega Men

The Prison Planet begins to swell with captives. There the charismatic Primus meets the powerful Tigorr. Their combined leadership initiates a revolt, and 200 Citadel prisoners are freed. Despite this small victory, five times that number remain imprisoned; during their escape, over 70 more of them die. (Harpis believes her lover, Delengis, has also perished.) Among the escapees, X'Hal's son Lambien later sacrifices himself to ensure the Omegans' safe passage to Earth. Regarded as a god, Lambien becomes a martyr to the Omega Men, who safeguard his essence in hopes of his revival. The surviving Omegans arrive on Earth in Newfoundland, where they establish a base from which to plan their revenge. (GL 142)

A slave for years, the young Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran finally seizes her opportunity to escape. Traveling aboard the Gordanian slave ship Q'st'r, she slays her captors and flees in a shuttle ship towards Earth. The journey from the Vegan world of Hnyxx will take three months. On Earth, the young empath called Raven assembles a team of young heroes whom she one day hopes will defeat her father, Trigon. Raven alerts the Titans to Koriand'r's arrival and they twice battle the Gordanians for her freedom. The Gordanians leave her behind, vowing that the Citadel will later send a warfleet. (NTT 1)

When the Earth man Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) is laid off from Ferris Aircraft, he and his girlfriend Carol Ferris take a vacation in Newfoundland. There, they are discovered by Harpis, who returns with a warning to the Omega Men's hidden city. There, Primus reveals the obscured shape of "him," an Omegan who they hope will heal in time to help them return home. After an unsuccessful disguised attempt to divert Hal and Carol, they reveal themselves to the Earth couple. Though Broot, Tigorr, Demonia and Harpis disagree with Primus' decision to let them live, Harpis defends Primus' leadership abilities. Nonetheless, Demonia threatens to disobey orders and kill Hal and Carol. (GL 141)

Primus forcibly stops Demonia from killing the Earthlings as Nimbus backs him up, claiming to have encountered a Green Lantern before (see Notes). In disgust, Tigorr makes known his own aspirations to lead the Omega Men. Just as the Omegans are finally found by the Gordanians, the remaining power of Lambien evolves in the powerful being Auron. Auron claims that he is not Lambien, but a reincarnation of his power. (GL 142)

From Vega, the Complex-Complex directs the Gordanians to reform into a robotic giant. But Auron (claiming to have been reincarnated by X'Hal herself to become her personal destroyer) and Green Lantern propel the Omegan's to victory over the Gordanians. At the conclusion, a Citadel commander expresses heightened anger towards the planet Earth for harboring not only the Omegans, but also the renegade Princess Koriand'r. After a long six months, Primus finally vows to get the Omegans home and face the Citadel. (GL 143)

Unable to find Green Lantern (who has been banished to space for a year), the Omega Men seek out Superman for help to return home. Instead they find that the Man of Steel has been abducted and vow once again to put the needs of others ahead of their own. In the battle, Kalista is struck by a gun, but comments that it's effects are "rather limited" on her Vegan physiology. (Action 535)

Despite the protests of others, Primus agrees to try to help Superman regain half of his stolen powers. Once accomplished, Superman takes the Omega Men aboard the Justice League satellite, where he furnishes them with fuel and a ship to return home. Just then, Superman notices the New Teen Titan called Raven appear in space outside the satellite; he draws her inside. (Action 536)

Previously — also on Earth — the Citadel has sent the evil Komand'r to Earth in search of her escaped sister Koriand'r. She sends the Gordanians to make her powers go awry, and she is thus captured. To pursue them, the Titans enlist Aqualad to retrieve the ship in which Kory came to Earth. However, Komand'r's forces quickly spit the Titans into space, left to their death. It is there that Raven envelops them in her soul self and Superman brings them aboard the JLA satellite. (NTT 23)

Primus is surprised to hear of Princess Koriand'r, whom the Omegans had believed dead. Again he pledges the Omega Men's support, agreeing to transport the Titans to Vega to rescue her. This meets with the increased protests from Tigorr and Demonia. Raven correctly deduces "Demonia would betray us." At the Citadel homeworld, Komand'r is received by revered Lord Damyn, the high chieftain who led the raid on Euphorix, exiled X'Hal and conquered all other Vegan worlds. With some Psions in his service, he hatches a plan to kidnap X'Hal. Meanwhile, the Omega Men decide to seek help from the Warlords of Okaara. They are accompanied by Auron, who once on Okaara, pleads with his mother to kill him. Held captive by the Warlords, the goddess refuses his plea and instead uses him as her vengeful tool and destroys the incoming Citadel force. Changeling takes the form of a Gordanian to try to find Starfire. (NTT 24)

The Omega Men recount the origins of X'Hal to the Titans: how she was imprisoned by the Warlords so that her worshippers are safe from her wrath. X'Hal ultimately gives herself over to the Citadel to save her homeworld of Okaara from destruction. And Demonia secretly allies herself with the Citadel just as Komand'r kills Lord Damyn, claims his position, and captures the Titans. (NTT 25)

In rage, Koriand'r temporarily breaks free, but the sisters are separated by the Citadel officials. They mandate that the two must duel to the death. If Komand'r wins, she will command the Citadel; if Koriand'r wins, Tamaran will be spared the Citadel's wrath. In the end, it is Komand'r appears to perish. But unbeknownst to the sisters, a Psion double agent has planted a trigger within each of them. Upon their deaths, 300 quake bombs will detonate throughout Vega. X'Hal quickly intervenes and destroys all the bombs then disappears, leaving her son, Auron, free from her influence. Demonia's betrayal is never discovered and she walks away alongside the Omega Men. For the first time in years, Koriand'r is reunited with her family on Tamaran, but decides to return to Earth with the Titans. (NTTANN 1)
Following her apparent death, Komand'r is rescued by a Tamaranean named Dor'ion. The near-death incident left her blind and shaken to the core, and without the will to live. Dor'ion gradually brings her back to herself. He trains her in combat not to rely on her gradually-returning sight and convinces her that Tamaran needs a leader who will fight for their freedom. When at last he reawakens her killer instincts, he makes the ultimate payment; in her blind haste, she kills him with a starbolt before realizing it was he. His death solidifies her resolve to lead Tamaran. (NTT 16)

Around this time, while battle rages on the world of Slagg, the Spittroid Shlagen first encounters Omega Men. They believe that he has come seeking their help, when in fact he had been running away. (OM 19)

Halo

History

Billions of years ago, at the beginning of creation, a race of beings called the Aurakles emerged from the Source. The Aurakles become observers and rarely interefered with sentient affairs. In time, however, one Aurakle grew increasingly fascinated by the lives of organic beings. While observing events on Earth, this sentimental entity was drawn to a young girl named Violet Harper. BATO 22

Harper was a teenaged runaway. She and her boyfriend, and Mark Denninger, had stolen a formula from the mob boss, Tobias Whale. They attempted to blackmail Whale for it and fled to the tiny European nation of Markovia. Harper turned on Mark as well and killed him with a drug overdose. Whale sent an assassin called Syonide to find them and Violet's luck finally ran out. Syonide left the girl for dead. BATO 20 The Aurakle witnessed this violence. It unwittingly reached out to her and was forever trapped inside her body! Violet's personality was deeply submerged and the Aurakle assumed control of her body. In the process, it became amnesiac; it was ingorant of either its own or Violet's memories. BATO 22

Soon afterwards, the Batman stumbled upon her body in the Markovian woods. He nicknamed the young girl "Halo" because of the glow that surrounded her. Halo aided Batman in rescuing his associate, Lucius Fox from Baron Bedlam. Batman requested further aid from the Justice League to save him, but the JLA refused. Batman then resigned and formed the Outsiders to deal with the problem. This band also included Katana, Black Lightning, Metamorpho and Geo-Force. BATO #1

After Markovia was freed of Bedlam's tyranny, Halo accompanied the new team to Gotham City. There she began a new life for herself under the guardianship of Katana. She also chose a name for herself: Gabrielle Doe. Tatsu and Gabrielle set up residence in Bruce Wayne's former penthouse — in the same building which housed the Outsiders' headquarters. Halo briefly flirted with Geo-Force but they soon realized that they were not interested in pursuing a serious relationship. #3, 6

Batman wasted no time in searching for Halo's origins. He sent his associate, Jason Bard, to the midwest to investigate her past. Harper's school yearbook led Bard to her real name and her parents in Arlington, Missouri. When Batman learned of her name (Violet) he noticed another mystery: Halo never used her violet aura. Gabrielle and Tatsu quickly gew very close, so it was heartbraking when Batman returned Halo to the care of her biological parents, Sam and Margaret. #16

Halo soon began to discover disturbing things about her past. At the same time, Tobias Whale and Syonide also discover Violet Harper's reemergence and set about reclaiming their stolen formula. Apparently, Violet Harper had a photographic memory, and Whale enlisted Dr. Moon to uncover the forumla. Instead, Moon noticed an anomaly in Halo's brainwave pattern. When the Outsiders entered the fray, Syonide killed the Mr. and Mrs. Harper. #18-20

The Outsiders removed Halo to the JLA satellite to analyze Halo themselves. Black Lightning provided the power and their associate, Dr. Jace, jogged Halo's memory of life as an Aurakle. This jolt summoned the other Aurakles, who kidnapped Gabrielle. Katana slayed one of the beings with her Soultaker sword and commanded it to take them to Halo. The team managed to cripple the Aurakles, who surrendered Halo. After all of this trauma, Halo departed from the team in anguish. #22-23

She then met a man named David, who took her to a commune called Eden. (This commune was actually a front for the villain Kobra.) David proposed to Halo just before they were captured by Kobra and her identity as Halo was exposed. Under duress, she revealed the Batman's identity, too. The Outsiders rescued Halo, but she and David went their separate ways. #24-27

After the Outsiders split from Batman, they were awarded medals by King Gregor of Markovia. They also accepted his offer to become "unofficial agents" of that state and voted to move to Los Angeles. There they would operate officially from the Markovian embassy, and unofficially from their new headquarters, just off-shore. #36

Geo-Force disbanded the Outsiders after a tragic series events. Gabrielle was left comatose by a blast from a Manhunter. Tatsu remained by by her side. Outsiders v.1 #28

Tatsu traveled with Gaby's body to Markovia, where she was mysteriously awakened. A new team of Outsiders was formed but they immediately found themselves framed for murder. Halo, Katana and Geo-Force fled the country along with new members Technocrat, Faust and Wylde. Outsiders v.2 #1-alpha

After the team was cleared of all charges, Halo began using her violet aura. The secret of the violet aura was known only to a few: it indicated that Violet Harper's personality was again in control. In this state, Harper could control all Halo's auras at once (Gaby could use only one at a time). Violet defected from the team and sought an alliance with Marissa Baron (Technocrat's ex-wife). Instead, Baron commanded the assassin Sanction to kill her. In the fracas, Sanction's blasts hit both women. This trauma forced the Aurakle to jump to a new host: Marissa Baron. Violet Harper's body was again left for dead. This time, Halo retained the memories of both Gabrielle and Marissa. (#7, 9)

The Aurakles attacked Halo again and possess her teammates. They had sought to reclaim her but were driven off by a high dose of electricity. (#13) These events added to tension to Gaby's relationship with Tatsu and may have added to her newfound attraction to Faust. When the team fractured, Halo sided with Looker and Faust and followed the Eradicator. #0 Unbeknownst to the Outsiders, Kobra rescued Violet Harper's dead body. His science was able to preserve Harper's essence and Halo's powers. She took the code name Spectra and joined Kobra's new Strike Force. Spectra posed as Halo and also recruited the former Outsider called Windfall. #16

The two Outsiders teams soon rejoined, but their time was short-lived. Since then, Halo, Katana and Geo-Force have kept the group alive, but its capacity is unknown. They have been spotted among other super-heroes in times of great crisis. DAY OF JUDGMENT 3-4, JLA: OUR WORLDS AT WAR 1

Notes: Violet Harper's birthdate is July 10; Halo turned 17 in SECRET ORIGINS #6.
+ Powers

....In addition to the power of flight, Halo possesses seven auras with different abilities:

* red = heat
* orange = repulsion
* yellow = sunlight
* green = stasis
* blue = distortion
* indigo = tractor beam
* violet = indicates the presence of the evil Violet Harper's personality, who can control all auras at once.

The Outsiders

Biography

Markovia and Baron Bedlam

The Outsiders form in the fictional Eastern European country of Markovia, which was at that time ravaged by war. Batman and Black Lightning have traveled there in order to free the captive Lucius Fox from Baron Bedlam, who has killed the country's king, King Viktor. Geo-Force himself is the prince of the country who gains powers from Markovia's top scientist, Dr. Helga Jace, in order to stop Bedlam. Metamorpho is searching for Dr. Jace in order for the doctor to help him with his powers. Katana arrives in Markovia in order to kill General Karnz, Bedlam's military commander, as vengeance for her family. During the adventure, Batman finds a young amnesiac girl exhibiting light-based powers in the woods, who he dubs Halo. The team bands together, defeats Baron Bedlam and decides to stay together afterwards. They fight such villains as Agent Orange, the Fearsome Five and the Cryonic Man.[2]

Masters of Disaster and the Force of July

Recurring foes are the Masters of Disaster (New Wave, Shakedown, Windfall, Heatstroke and Coldsnap), who at one point are almost able to kill Black Lightning. Windfall becomes disenchanted with her team and joins the Outsiders. Similar recurring opponents are the Force of July, a group of patriotic metahumans who also regularly came into contact with the Suicide Squad. During this time, Geo-Force's sister Terra dies as a traitor to the Teen Titans. Batman reveals his real identity as Bruce Wayne to the team, although they have already learned it. Eventually, the origin of Halo is revealed, and Emily Briggs (who during a later adventure becomes the superheroine Looker and joins the team) is introduced. Denise Howard, the love interest of Geo-Force also appears for the second time.

Without Batman

Baron Bedlam later returns to life. With the assistance of the Bad Samaritan, Masters of Disaster and Soviet forces, he again tries to retake control of Markovia. Batman withholds this information, angering the rest of the team. This eventually leads to Batman disbanding the team and returning to the Justice League. The team nonetheless travels to Markovia, discovering many Markovian military casualties. They are defeated by the Masters and learn that Bedlam has cloned Adolf Hitler. The younger clone commits suicide in horror of the actions his original self perpetrated. The Outsiders become unofficial agents of Markovia, so that they receive Markovian funding. The team moves to Los Angeles, as Geo-Force leaves behind his girlfriend Denise and Looker separates from her husband.

Outsiders (vol. 1, 1985-1988)

This series featured again the original group and lasted 28 issues, plus an Annual and a Special. This title originally ran alongside the Adventures of the Outsiders title, chronicling events a year after that series. In the end, the first couple of issues of the title were reprinted in Adventures of the Outsiders before that title was canceled.

Biography

The team have moved into a new headquarters in Los Angeles, and once again become involved in an adventure with the Force of July, ending in Moscow. Villains such as the Duke of Oil, and the Soviet superteam the People's Heroes are introduced during this time. The team's adventures take them all over the globe, most notably when the Outsiders' plane is shot down and the team is marooned on a deserted island for three weeks. Tensions rise as Geo-Force tries to resign his leadership and he and Looker give in to temptation. Eventually, they are found and are able to leave.

Even more troubles arise when a detective is hired to look into Looker's private life (now working as a model under the alias of Lia Briggs), who learns of her actual identity of Emily. The detective tries to blackmail her, but she hypnotizes him, and he leaves. However, he is shortly killed afterwards and Looker is arrested. The Outsiders however are able to clear her name.

Reuniting with Batman

The Outsiders are reunited with Batman when they band together to fight Eclipso. After the adventure Batman gives them access to a Batcave situated in Los Angeles, and the team is also infiltrated by the clone of Windfall. Meanwhile, Looker and Geo-Force feel guilt over their affair and eventually call it off, and Metamorpho faces his own personal problems with his lover Sapphire Stagg. The clone of Windfall is ultimately killed and the Masters of Disaster are defeated as the real Windfall joins the team. The team also come in contact with the other Los Angeles based team, Infinity, Inc.

Millennium
Main article: Millennium (comics)

The team is next involved with the company wide crossover event Millennium, wherein it is revealed that Dr. Jace is an operative of the villainous Manhunters[3] and kidnaps the team.[4] The team, now also joined by the Atomic Knight, are able to free themselves, but Dr. Jace blows up both herself and Metamorpho.[5] Looker is called to return to Abyssia, the origin of her powers, where she must also face the Manhunters. During the course of the adventure, she is drained of much of her power and returns to her normal form.[6] Halo is hit in crossfire, saving Katana's life, and slips into a coma, as Katana vows to look after her.[7] The team is disbanded by Geo-Force as Looker returns to her husband, and Batman has since rejoined the Justice League

This series featured again the original group and lasted 28 issues, plus an Annual and a Special. This title originally ran alongside the Adventures of the Outsiders title, chronicling events a year after that series. In the end, the first couple of issues of the title were reprinted in Adventures of the Outsiders before that title was canceled.

Biography

The team have moved into a new headquarters in Los Angeles, and once again become involved in an adventure with the Force of July, ending in Moscow. Villains such as the Duke of Oil, and the Soviet superteam the People's Heroes are introduced during this time. The team's adventures take them all over the globe, most notably when the Outsiders' plane is shot down and the team is marooned on a deserted island for three weeks. Tensions rise as Geo-Force tries to resign his leadership and he and Looker give in to temptation. Eventually, they are found and are able to leave.

Even more troubles arise when a detective is hired to look into Looker's private life (now working as a model under the alias of Lia Briggs), who learns of her actual identity of Emily. The detective tries to blackmail her, but she hypnotizes him, and he leaves. However, he is shortly killed afterwards and Looker is arrested. The Outsiders however are able to clear her name.

Reuniting with Batman

The Outsiders are reunited with Batman when they band together to fight Eclipso. After the adventure Batman gives them access to a Batcave situated in Los Angeles, and the team is also infiltrated by the clone of Windfall. Meanwhile, Looker and Geo-Force feel guilt over their affair and eventually call it off, and Metamorpho faces his own personal problems with his lover Sapphire Stagg. The clone of Windfall is ultimately killed and the Masters of Disaster are defeated as the real Windfall joins the team. The team also come in contact with the other Los Angeles based team, Infinity, Inc.

Split in two

After the defeat of the vampires, two teams, (one composed of Geo-Force, Katana and Techonocrat and another composed of the Eradicator, Looker, Wylde, Halo and Faust), claim the name the Outsiders, even though both teams are still considered fugitives for some time, thanks to some questionable tactics by their new members. During this time, the teams learn that Halo's original body has been brought back to life by the Kobra terrorist organization. In control of the body is Violet Harper, the evil woman whose body Halo originally inhabited. She now has abilities similar to Halo's and ends up calling herself Spectra, and joining Strike Force Kobra alongside Dervish and Windfall. Both Kobra and Violet Harper are defeated.

The two teams unite to confront Felix Faust, father to the Outsider Faust. During the confrontation, the bear-like Wylde betrays the team when Felix promises to restore his humanity. The team is able to defeat Felix Faust and Wylde eventually becomes an actual bear, without the ability to speak, and locked up in a zoo.

The title ends with the clearing of the Outsiders' names and the wedding of Geo-Force and Denise Howard.

Katana

Becoming Katana

Tatsu Yamashiro was an average Japanese girl, save for her proficiency in the martial arts, a trait encouraged by her parents.[2] Two brothers - Maseo and Takeo Yamashiro - both proclaimed their love for her. While she liked both, she chose Maseo. Takeo, "did not take this well," and refused to attend the couple's wedding.[2] Unmissed - indeed, Maseo (his only family) disowned his brother, who had joined the Yakuza, taking their mark of a large dragon tattoo across his chest - Tatsu and Maseo, mourning the deaths of Tatsu's parents, (cause unknown) started a family of their own. Tatsu gave birth to twins, Yuki and Reiko, while Takeo rose in rank of the Yakuza, indulging his "exotic tastes" for ancient weapons.[2] He was presented with a pair of matched swords by General Karnz (later henchman to Baron Bedlam), one of which Takeo favored for its mystical properties.

Takeo spent days preparing himself, before taking both swords to the Yamashiro residence, demanding his brother duel for the "prize" of Tatsu.[2] During the course of the struggle, a fire was started, and - when Maseo was distracted by his children - Takeo killed his brother with the sword which would become known as Soultaker. Tatsu arose just in time to see her husband die, and engaged Takeo, gaining the upper hand and disarming him. Attempting to save her children, she heard her husband's voice coming from the sword telling her they were already lost. Escaping with her life, Tatsu began training as a samurai under a master called Tadashi. After much time she graduated from his tutorship and left for America where she intended to use her talents to fight for justice. She took the codename Katana after the sword that she wielded, possessed for some time by the soul of her husband.[2][3]

Becoming an Outsider

Eventually Tatsu journeyed to Markovia, a small Baltic state, where she had tracked down Karnz, and she was successful in killing him, inadvertently implicating Black Lightning (coincidentally there with Batman) in her crime.[4] Attempting to rectify the misunderstanding by freeing Black Lightning, she encountered a young girl who was named Halo.[5] The two joined up to rescue Black Lightning, Batman (himself captured due to a blunder by Halo), and Bruce Wayne's employee Lucius Fox from their captor, Baron Bedlam.[5]

Batman was himself in Markovia to rescue Lucius Fox, and having sought - and failed to gain - the help of the Justice League of America, had resigned his membership in the Justice League. Inspired by the teamwork he encountered between Black Lightning, Katana, Halo and Geo-Force (Prince Brion of Markovia) and Metamorpho (also coincidentally present), Batman decided to form the Outsiders.[6] The team managed to end the Baron's tyranny in Markovia and moved to Gotham City, where they set up their headquarters (a former penthouse of Bruce Wayne, secretly the Batman). Tatsu became Halo's guardian and the two moved into the penthouse.

At the same time, Takeo was still at large and had followed Tatsu to Gotham City. Secretly he switched swords with her and left for Tokyo with the Outsiders on his tail. Takeo took the sword to his master, the godfather of the Yakuza, known only as the Oyabun. Performing a specific ritual, the Oyabun and Takeo managed to recall the souls that inhabited the sword, who proceeded to take corporeal form.[7] Among them were legendary mercenaries and assassins, but also Maseo, who was now a slave to the Oyabun. Katana - and the Outsiders - had to fight them all, but was ultimately able to reclaim the Soultaker from Maseo. Forced to kill her husband, she was also able to kill Takeo, finally putting some of her ghosts to rest. By undoing the ritual however, her husband returned into the sword as well.

At one point the Outsiders split from Batman's leadership and took up residence in Markovia where they were funded by the Markovian crown (Geo-Force is a prince of the royal family). They became the official agents of Markovia and moved to the city of Los Angeles where they made their headquarters in the Markovian embassy, while retaining another secret HQ just off the shore. Although Tatsu had left her past behind, the Oyabun returned in her life and sent a tengu after, with which he captured her. Her teammates in the Outsiders, namely Halo and Looker were able to save her using other tengu and the tengu leader, who aided them in battle.[8]

Family debt

After a while, the team disbanded after various tragic events surrounding Geo-Force's parents and Markovia. Nonetheless the Outsiders were forced to defend Markovia against the Manhunters, but during the fight Halo was knocked into a coma, saving Katana's life. Bounded by giri-ninjo (a debt of honor even unto death), Tatsu left the team so she could tend to Halo's wounds. During that time however, she was approached by a family member of her husband, who wished her to accompany the Suicide Squad on a mission to destroy a large horde of weapons that was about to be sold to the Yakuza. She declined on the basis of her giri-ninjo, although she was willing to help if the need was truly desperate. That family member was later killed, and she went after the killer, the Daichi-Doku's Oyabun (of which her relative was a member), who did not wish to see the weapons destroyed and tried to stop the Suicide Squad. During that adventure, she saved the life of Bronze Tiger and Manhunter (Mark Shaw), making them honor-bound to her by giri-ninjo. Mark Shaw then assisted her in taking down the Daichi-Doku's Oyabun. The Oyabun committed ritual suicide and Katana stood by as his 'second', ready to help with a blade strike so he could keep his honor.

Returning to the Outsiders

Eventually though the Outsiders re-form and return to Markovia. Instead of a peaceful reunion however, the team become trapped in a web of public relations that brands them outlaws. Although the charges would be dropped eventually the team was fractured. Halo dies from an assassin's blast but was reborn in a new body, which put an immense strain on Tatsu's relationship with Halo. Katana joins a team with Geo-Force and Technocrat, taking the lead. During a lone mission, Tadashi, her old mentor sends Lady Shiva to claim Katana's Soultaker sword. Shiva confronts Katana, who had been battling a gang of drug dealers. Katana had slain many, but refuses to kill the youngest member, something Shiva insults her for. Shiva, being world-renowned as the world's greatest assassin and fighter, was able to kill Katana with her own sword. Katana returnes to life after a trial by combat within her sword, which includes confronting many of the souls of the people she had killed. Afterwards, she manages to find her old mentor and take his life. The two splinter teams would eventually reunite, to take on more supernatural threats focused around the new team member Faust. Katana and her friends suffer through the mental and physical tortures that Faust's father, Felix, puts them through. Halo eventually frees them by destroying several of Felix's items of power. Soon after, the group breaks apart. After disbanding, Tatsu has kept her association with her old allies among the Outsiders (such as Black Lightning, Geo-Force and Halo), and although they did not operate as an official team, were always seen alongside each other during major crises. Her close ties to Batman also saw her fighting by his side, several times, notably during the Imperiex crisis and the Day of Judgement incident when hell invades Earth. The main battle against the villain, the rogue angel Asmodel, with the power of the Spectre, takes place in New York. Katana personally protects Madame Xanadu who is guarding the rest of Asmodel's power with a mystical shield. Katana's protection of Xanadu is assisted by Doctor Occult, Phantom Stranger and Alan Scott. Later, Katana assists Batman when he and Superman were declared outlaws. Katana was also called upon by Black Canary, together with other female mercenaries, in order to rescue Oracle from Senator Pullman. After Oracle was saved, Katana received a card, together with the promise of a favor if required. Katana later returns to assist Oracle in issue #108 alongside dozens of other agents.

New Outsiders

Most recently, she has joined a new team of Outsiders after assisting them in defeating an a more powerful Sabbac. It consists of all new members, with the exception of Metamorpho who rejoined the team after Shift's demise. In Outsiders #42, Katana dons a new costume, as she felt it innapropriate to wear a costume based on Japan's flag. The country had revoked her citizenship due to her membership with the controversial team. Later, Katana summons Sabbac to destroy Dr. Sivana's base with his Hellfire. Katana remains an active member of the Outsiders following the One Year Later continuity jump. Initially, the team is led by Nightwing, but later leadership transfers to Batman. Batman decides to 'test' Katana and the rest of the initial team, in order to design a better team. Katana is Batman's first official recruit.